Monday, April 30, 2012

N.L. FAAB Log - April 30, 2012

Morgan is available in your league? Why yes – I waived him. I could only handle so much of Plush. He rewarded me .333 with a stolen base this
week. The reality is this: Morgan’s act
is getting even a little much for the Brewers, he is rapidly losing at-bats,
and I fully expect he is going to get traded at some point soon. Nonetheless, he is a quasi-regular. The winning bid is from a team maximizing its
hitting and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with some pitching, so the bid
is not unexpected.

Moore has done nothing but beat the heck out of
the ball since A+ ball, hitting 31 home runs in the minor leagues each of the
last two years. He started this year at
Syracuse with 7 home runs out of the gate, and now finds himself with the big
club. I did not bid on Moore (more an
oversight while I was busy negotiating a trade for Jose Reyes), but the
question for me is: how often will he play?
Last I checked, Bryce Harper will be manning left field. Could Harper play center with Moore in
right? Conceivably, though I believe
Moore is better suited to be a designated hitter…I mean first baseman. Nonetheless, these bids are solid and your
league should follow suit. The winning
bidder here, by the way, is the team with Ryan Zimmerman now on the bench.

I wrote briefly about Castillo on Friday. As it turns out, I did not see a Steve
Clevenger injury because it happened on the last swing of batting practice and
I was out buying a beer and hot dog.
Soto is also nursing a bad back, so Castillo will get a few starts
here. I cannot believe he will sit on
the bench once Clevenger is back, so I expect he will be back in the minors
soon, though likely back for good sometime later this season.

Andres Torres is scheduled to come off the disabled list today.
This should cut into Hairston's playing time a little bit, but he is hot
this week. There is nothing wrong with trying to ride a hot player; just
be aware he will be back to his normal back-up role soon.

Ransom is getting a good number of at-bats, playing in four games this week and performing quite well. Chris Young is not expected to come off the disabled list when due, so Ransom will continue to see time in the outfield. Ride him while he is hot, and cut bait when Young comes back.

Valdespin is a C+ prospect in John Sickels’ book,
though he admits to great athleticism.
Sickels worries poor strike zone judgment and a mercurial personality
Will Block his progress. I do not see
Valdespin starting much, but he is capable of playing just about anywhere on
the field. If he stays up, which I think
is unlikely (he should hit the minor leagues again when Ronny Cedeno comes
back), he will see Willie Bloomquist type at-bats, filling in everywhere,
without the Willie Bloomquist numbers.

Hoover is the "throw-in" in the Juan Francisco deal. Of course, he is really not just a throw-in; he put up 117 strikeouts in 105 innings last year and projects as a decent set-up man. Obviously, mixed leaguers should not be looking at Hoover, but he is a capable reliever in NL-only. Do not expect many saves or holds.